Friday Tip!

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!

Play nice. We’re all in this together.

It’s hard enough making a go of it as an artist without also enduring negative actions by fellow artists.

There are stories back in the day of burlesque performers sabotaging the acts of their rivals. Tempest Storm says she was removed from a show because the headliner, Lili St. Cyr, who danced barefoot, accused her of dropping pins on stage. It’s said that when Rosita Royce and Tirza were both performing at The New York World’s Fair, Rosita had the shower of Tirza’s wine bath plugged up with gum, so Tirza retaliated by having Rosita’s doves shot at with a BB gun. Evangeline the Oyster Girl took an axe to Divina’s tank (right).

Those days of sabotage on stage seem to be gone, but in their place is behavior more insidious and just as damaging, oft done anonymously: bad-mouthing other performers (especially to producers and venues), removing other artists’ promo materials, hacking social media, blitzing ticketing services so tickets can’t be bought, &c. It sounds crazy that anyone would go to such lengths, but it has all happened to performers I know (including my troupe).

Sydni Deveraux, The Golden Glamazon, wrote a bit about trash-talking today. You should read it.

There is room enough in the world for everyone. Trying to take down a “rival” by damaging their reputation and/or their show is the action of a petty person with no confidence that the quality of their work can stand on its own merits. Surely one has better things to do with one’s life.

Spend your energies building up yourself and your art instead of trying to tear others down. Be better.